VILNIUS, LITHUANIA.-Three internationally acclaimed architects, Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid and Massimiliano Fuksas will unveil their proposals for a new museum in Vilnius on April 8, 2008. A jury chaired by Thomas Krens, the Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York and panel members Dr. Mikhail Piotrovsky, the Director of the State Hermitage Museum in Russia, Peter Schmal, the Director of the Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt, Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas, Mayor of the City of Vilnius Juozas Imbrasas and Gintaras Caikauskas, Vice Chairman of the Lithuanian Architects' Association will determine the winning proposal.

The architectural competition is part of a Feasibility Study being conducted by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in collaboration with the State Hermitage Museum. The study is evaluating the feasibility, from an architectural, economic and cultural perspective of establishing a new museum in Vilnius. The Feasibility Study was commissioned by the recently established Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center in Vilnius and is expected to be completed by mid-June 2008.

Vilnius will be assuming an esteemed position as the European Capital of Culture in 2009. "The presence of a new museum would be a significant initiative in transforming the city into a premier destination for cutting-edge art, film and architecture. It would also markedly contribute to the enhancement of Vilnius as an international center of the avant-garde," stated Arturas Zuokas, the Chairman of the Board of "Vilnius - European Capital of Culture 2009."

All three architectural models will be on public display from April 10 through the end of June 2008 at the Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center in a Special Exhibition being organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the State Hermitage Museum entitled: "Imagining the Future: Design Proposals for a New Museum in Vilnius."